Marked for Owami Dlamini
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Jan 2028
Martin Mercieca damages knee ligaments — 28 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market3 Jan 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
A defender's goal wins it for Birkirkara — 7.65
1 for Rafa Santos, marked 7.65, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Birkirkara may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market3 Jan 2028
Add another name to the list: Pieta Hotspurs have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Bukho Mkalipi. The answer from Birkirkara has not changed — yet.
Match1 Jan 2028
Rafa Santos scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Marsaxlokk, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zach Muscat, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Manuel Pérez and Birkirkara agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Sebastjan Cjapi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Nov 2027
Zach Muscat was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match30 Oct 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Luis Mario Córdova falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Owami Dlamini slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Owami Dlamini is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Romarinho runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Birkirkara than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Market1 Nov 2027
The Macula talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Birkirkara know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 May 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 May 2027
Gabriel Mentz falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad31 May 2027
Klaidi Cela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market31 May 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout31 May 2027
Gabriel Mentz asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout31 May 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Gzira United told David Xuereb something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Market31 May 2027
André linked with a move away
The name of André keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Gzira United say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout31 May 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market31 May 2027
Gzira United have let the market know Brooklyn Borg can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
Klevis Shaqe was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The medical room confirms 31 days on the sidelines for Paulo Júnior, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Gabriel Mentz falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Áquila gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Klaidi Cela asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market26 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Edoardo Colombo signs something — a contract at Gzira United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Apr 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Gzira United are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Gzira United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Acuña is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Klaidi Cela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Gabriel Mentz knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gabriel Mentz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market12 Apr 2027
The Áquila story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Áquila signs something — a contract at Gzira United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.